And in his recent interview with Edward Pentin, Fr. Nicola Bux spoke of the growing division among the Church’s hierarchy:

“Certainly half of the cardinal electors and many bishops are convinced we cannot go on this way and change is needed to put the Church in order if she is to remain Catholic. There is turmoil in the College of Cardinals, as there is among the priests [but] the ecclesial body is waking up from a state of anesthesia.”

A “state of anesthesia” is an apt description for the condition of the sincere bishops since Vatican II. Conversely, the villains have been perfectly alert in their work of demolition. Fr. Bux also spoke of Cardinal Müller’s recent book, Good Faith: Religion in the 21st Century, which makes it clear that “the Church is riddled with apostasy.” Bishops are indeed beginning to stir from their slumber.

The vast majority of Council Fathers were not malicious, they were simply lulled into a state of completely unfounded complacency.

Even though we would have preferred bishops to speak up several years ago, these seem to be positive developments. Still, we have to wonder whether these clerics are waking up to the fact that the Church has been in crisis since Vatican II, or instead transitioning to new dreams that the excesses of Francis can be remedied by returning to the comparative calm of John Paul II or Benedict XVI.

If Fr. Bux’s observation is a reliable indicator of the thoughts of those who are “waking up from a state of anesthesia,” many of the bishops are merely wanting to transition to a more peaceful slumber:

“But as Joseph Ratzinger affirmed, the crisis of the Church is contingent upon the collapse of the liturgy, and the remedy lies in the ‘hermeneutics of continuity and reform of the one subject-Church,’ I would add it is in the ‘reform of liturgical reform’ he initiated.”

This is, of course, the ideal promoted by Benedict XVI, which would likely be welcomed by many Traditional Catholics today. But, even though it would a superficial improvement of our current situation, it would still be a nightmare compared to what Catholics had prior to Vatican II.

Continuing with Fr. Bux’s image of a “state of anesthesia,” we have to inquire how and when the bishops might have been “anesthetized,” and there is naturally considerable disagreement on this point, even among Traditional Catholics. For the proper diagnosis, we can look to Msgr. Brunero Gherardani’s astute commentary on Vatican II in his The Ecumenical Vatican Council II: A Much Needed Discussion:

“Evil took root more quickly and intensely than anyone could have imagined. This was not the result of a wicked and perverse will, which might have found luciferian satisfaction in undermining the treasure of revealed truth. Rather, due to a naive levity in the face of grave realities being confronted, there was induced a kind of catalepsy. One closed his eyes in the face of the dubious and questionable, and opened them up again to behold that which was pluralistic, diverse, and contradictory — as if the same realities once considered harmful could now be called a providential enrichment.” (p. 24)

Faithful Catholics who have studied Vatican II likely recognize the profound truth of this observation — the vast majority of Council Fathers were not malicious, they were simply lulled into a state of completely unfounded complacency. Msgr. Gheradani describes it as a state of catalepsy, which for purposes of our analysis is functionally similar to the state of anesthesia described by Fr. Bux.

If they are confused by the theology they should nonetheless be able to grasp the unmistakable fact that the fruits of the reforms have been deadly. How, we may wonder, can they possibly fail to wake up and return to immutable Catholic teaching?

As Msgr. Gheradini’s words suggest, it ought to have been alarming to the Council Fathers that “the same realities once considered harmful could now be called a providential enrichment.” Even today, the sincere bishops surely recognize that the initiatives promoted by Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI — especially false ecumenism — were considered harmful and repugnant to the Faith by Pius XII and his predecessors. If they are confused by the theology they should nonetheless be able to grasp the unmistakable fact that the fruits of the reforms have been deadly. How, we may wonder, can they possibly fail to wake up and return to immutable Catholic teaching?

At this critical juncture, it does not seem adequate for Traditional Catholics to simply hope and pray that the sincere bishops wake up to the reality that the Vatican II reforms have been disastrous. For decades, the reformers have sought to impose silence on faithful Catholics as a condition for remaining in good standing with Rome. We see this, for instance, as one of the conditions in the protocol of May 5, 1988, signed by Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Lefebvre (and retracted by Archbishop Lefebvre the following day):

“Regarding certain points taught by the Second Vatican Council or concerning subsequent reforms of the liturgy and law which appear difficult to reconcile with tradition, we commit ourselves to a positive attitude of study and of communication with the Apostolic See, avoiding all polemics.”

In hindsight we can see that Rome wanted silence about Vatican II in 1988 for the same reason that Francis and his collaborators (including, apparently, the FBI) want silence about it today — any honest assessment of the Council invariably calls into question not only the resulting reforms but also the key documents. The reformers know that their entire revolution is built on deception and contradictions, so they have to demand silence and blindness. They need silence to avoid awakening others to the attacks on the Church.

Unfortunately, the reformers have been tremendously successful in imposing this silence. If only those faithful Catholics who knew the truth would have preached it from the rooftops for the past sixty years, more people would have woken up to fight the anti-Catholic tyranny. At this critical juncture, though, we do not need recriminations for past negligence (which can be found on all sides). Rather, we need Traditional Catholics to unite in insisting on immutable Catholic truth and vigorously opposing the errors that attack it.

We do not know whether we can wake up the sincere bishops if we preach immutable Catholic truth from the rooftops, but we should be certain that our silence will virtually guarantee that those bishops will simply drift off into the comparatively mild dreams of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

We do not know whether we can wake up the sincere bishops if we preach immutable Catholic truth from the rooftops, but we should be certain that our silence will virtually guarantee that those bishops will simply drift off into the comparatively mild dreams of John Paul II and Benedict XVI rather than awakening from their anesthetized state.

Those who, for various reasons, cannot bring themselves to “reject Vatican II,” must realize that no authority can compel them to remain silent about the errors attacking the Church and sending souls to hell. As discussed in a previous article, the innovators have purposefully exploited the ambiguities of Vatican II to promote errors and we have every right to insist that their interpretations are heretical. Concretely, it makes little difference at this stage of the battle which of the following two formulations we choose:

• Contrary to what Vatican II said, there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church, or
• Contrary to how some have interpreted Vatican II, there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church

Either of these approaches is far better than damnable silence at this point, and we can apply this approach to all of the errors emanating from Vatican II.

Our Lady of Akita had these words to describe the times in which we apparently find ourselves

“The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres . . . churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.”

We need “cardinals opposing cardinals” and “bishop against bishops” because the false peace offends God, attacks the Mystical Body of Christ, and sends souls to hell. Traditional Catholics who know that the reforms of Vatican II are lethal must cooperate with God’s grace to wake up the sincere Cardinals and bishops. If we fail to do this, we will have each other to blame when the sincere, but still slumbering, bishops let everything be taken away from us. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

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